Depressed? Don't Read This!
Do you feel dejected or hopeless? © Martyn Carruthers

Online Coaching & Training for Depression

Are you stuck in an emotional depression with little sense of direction.
Depression can be a powerful trap ... and a powerful learning experience.

Consequences of Depression

Is depression or depressed people part of your life? Studies show that chronic depression affects about 10% of the world population. That means there are around 600 MILLION depressed people out there! We have helped some of them, and found that common causes of depression is more often caused by  unhealthy relationships and lives without meaning than by some crisis or recession. If you have healthy relationships and a strong sense of purpose - a crisis or recession is just another block on your path!

Depression signals that your life is out of balance. It is a condition, not a disease - if you see depression as a disease, you may seek drugs. Better ideas include defining your goals, clarifying your relationships and dissolving emotional blocks.

Depression reduces the quality and sense of life, and often originates in the early family. Depression often starts in dependent, symbiotic or dysfunctional relationships. Relationship problems require relationship solutions ... and drugs often delay finding solutions.

We also find that depression is associated with food allergies, limiting beliefs, stress, codependence, addictions, relationship breakdown and relationship entanglements. There are other solutions for motivated people than taking more drugs that hide symptoms rather than change causes..

We find that depressed women are more likely to seek our help, while depressed men may self-medicate with alcohol or nicotine, or pursue distractions such as television, sports or gambling.

If you won't deal with depression - you will deal with its consequences. We help people manage their emotions without drugs, build better relationships, sleep and enjoy healthy diets. (We suggest that people with alcohol or drug addictions first seek drug treatment and recovery programs.)

Mood Control with Drugs

Moods refer to lasting emotional states. Moods are less specific and less intense than emotions, and less likely to be have specific triggers. We perceive a mood as a soup of mixed emotions; and the emotional contents of a mood often provide the information that people need to dismantle that mood and improve their lives. But many people prefer the seemingly easier route of using mood control drugs.

The manufacture and sale of anti-depressants is a multi-billion dollar industry. Although the most common anti-depressants may be alcohol and nicotine, trying to manage depression with psychoactive drugs can have worse consequences than depression. Many prescription anti-depressants are addictive and have unpleasant side effects, especially with older people.

The more expensive anti-depressant drugs are SSRI - selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors such as Zoloft, Prozac or Paxil, which increase serotonin in the brain while tricyclic antidepressants inhibit the reuptake of serotonin. (In humans, serotonin seems to regulate moods).

Older and cheaper anti-depressants include MAOI or monoamine oxidase inhibitors, which are associated with worse side effects. MAO inhibitors such as Nardil, Parnate and Marplan may be prescribed if other medications don't work.

Symptoms Associated with Depression

Depressed people describe unpleasant moods and unpleasant thoughts about themselves and their lives. Depressed people may have difficulty making decisions and may feel overwhelmed by the everyday tasks of paying bills, caring for children, meeting people and housework.

Check this list ...

Managing Guilt & Shame

People who try to withhold emotions will sooner or later express them. Depression often seems to result from withholding shame or guilt. This may reflect regret for abuse, abandonment, betrayal, etc - or may be a result of transference, such as parental alienation, sexual abuse or emotional incest.

We find that people often express withheld guilt and shame as depression, which, if unresolved, may result in nervous breakdown or suicide attempts. Long-term solutions require that people who have hurt others clarify and atone for this hurt, and that they change any unhealthy relationship enmeshments (see emotional maturity.) People facing alcoholism or drug addiction can seek a rehab center to regain sobriety and overcome their addictions.

Many people seem to try to control guilt and depression with distractions (e.g. TV, sex, gambling, etc), psychoactive medications (including nicotine, alcohol and caffeine) and dissociation (withdrawal, self-hypnosis and meditation). Such control is usually short-term; continued use of drugs or other distractions may result in obsessions and addictions - without resolving the underlying depression.

Electroconvulsive Therapy (Electroshock - ECT)

Electroconvulsive therapy (electroshock) is passing an electric current through a human brain to cause a convulsion. Electroshock is used on people with depression, mania and sometimes schizophrenia, especially people who do not respond well to, or abreact to, medications. (I see ECT as an attempt to delete unpleasant memories rather than to help people assimilate and learn from them ... Martyn).

The side effects of ECT include electrocution, brain damage, nausea and headaches, memory loss, distractibility, difficulty with multiple tasks, trouble with arithmetic and language.

Solutions for Depression

Your food influences your ability to cope and feel happy, and whole foods can support your mental health. Avoiding sugar and grains can help normalize insulin levels, which influences depression. You can supplement your food with essential vitamins, minerals and fats (such as omega-3 oils).

Ensure you have healthy vitamin D levels. Studies have shown that people with low levels of vitamin D are much more likely to be depressed than people with normal levels.

Intelligence is not wisdom - intelligent people may feel depressed if they cannot find effective solutions for problems or trends that less intelligent people may not notice. (Also, more sensitive people are likely to feel depressed by incidents that less sensitive people may not notice or consider foolish.)

Opening up to friends and talking about why you feel depressed is emotional first aid. Good friends, a healthy diet and exercise almost always makes sense. Focus on what is around you that you like. Walk in parks or nature. Be grateful for small things and remember what makes sense for you.

Allow depression to develop into compassion!

We can help you evaluate and change unpleasant emotions,
build healthy relationships and define your goals.
 

Online Coaching & Training for Depression
 

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Are You Ready To Change? We sincerely hope that you found this page useful Act quickly for our Spring special: only US $80 / session or US $300 / month   Have You Suffered Enough?  Where are you now? Assess your fixations, bonds and enmeshments What do you want? Know your life goals ... and your blocks to them Do you have the resources? Find your lost resources by dreaming together Which emotions block you? End relationship disappointments and mentor damage Do your beliefs limit you? Change your limiting beliefs and end dependence Do you sometimes feel empty? Resolve identity loss to recover your lost resources Is your partnership happy? Build healthy partnership (or separate peacefully) Are your children healthy? Happy parents can better manage family problems Do you want team success? Team leaders and top teams can develop together Do you have other goals? Specialty coaching & training

Plagiarism is theft. Copyright © Martyn Carruthers 1996-2012 All rights reserved. Soulwork Systemic Coaching was primarily developed by Martyn Carruthers
to help people dissolve emotional blocks and improve relationships to achieve their goals. These concepts and strategies are for general knowledge only. Consult a physician about medical conditions and before changing medical treatment. Don't steal intellectual property ... get permission to post, publish or teach Martyn's work.